Nogic



L. NOGIC Oct. 23, 1962 GATE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 10, 1960INVENTOR. won

32 46 44 {\nnf United States 3,059,358 GATE Leon Nogic, 1911 Sampson,Butte, Mont. Filed Aug. 10, 1960, Ser. No. 48,596 9 Claims. (Cl. 39-31)This invention relates to a gate assembly of the selfclosing type. It isa primary object of this invention to provide a simple gate mountingarrangement which may be attached to any gate post for mounting thereonany type of gate in such a manner as to enable the opening of the gateby the application of a predetermined opening force on the gate ineither direction, said gate subsequently returning to its closedposition under the force of gravity.

It is therefore a further object of this invention to provide a mountingattachment for gates which enables older children and adults to open thegate which subsequently closes by itself, While toddlers unable to exertthe requisite opening force will be prevented from opening the gatewhich is especially useful since there is no chance that the gate willbe left in open position because of forgetfulness on the part of olderchildren or adults overburdened with packages.

The novel gate mounting arrangement for accomplishing the above statedobjects involves hingedly mounting any type of gate on a hinge postwhich in turn is pivotally mounted at its upper end on a gate post whichmay also be of any type. Accordingly, the hinge post on which the gateis pivotally mounted will be pivotally displaeeable relative to the gatepost in both directions about its upper pivot mounting on the gate post.A clamp member is therefore secured to the gate post adjacent its lowerend through which the hinge post extends so that the clamp member willlimit pivotal displacement of the hinge post relative to the gate post.Accordingly, it will be appreciated that when the gate is pushed towardopen position in either direction it will cause pivotal displacement ofthe hinge post within the confines of the clamp member. In order toenforce pivotal movement of the gate relative to its hinge post mountingwhen pushed toward an open position, a cam element is attached to thegate post by means of the clamp member, said cam element beingengageable on both sides thereof by projections attached to the gateframe so that when the hinge post is pivotally displaced the gate inmoving relative to the stationary cam element will be cammed thereby tocause it to pivot about its hinge mounting on the hinge post. It willtherefore also be apparent, that when the gate is in its closedposition, the cam element is eflective to stabilize the gate since ittends to resist movement of the gate. In the closed position, the gatemay be yieldably latched so that a predetermined opening force must beapplied thereto in order to overcome the latch holding force andstabilizing effect of the cam element.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view illustrating a typical gate mountedbetween a pair of gate posts in accordance with this invention.

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of the gate assembly in its closedposition.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the gate assembly in its openposition.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken through a plane indicated by sectionline 44 in FIGURE 2.

Patented Get. 23, 1952 ice FIGURE 5 is a sectional view similar to thatof FIG URE 4 but showing the gate in a partially open position.

FiGURE 6 is a perspective view of the gate mounting attachment parts ofthis invention.

Referring to the drawings in detail, FIGURES 1 and 2 illustrate the gateassembly generally indicated by reference numeral 141 in its closedposition. The gate assembly includes a generally rectangular gate 12which is mounted between a pair of gate posts 14 and 15. The gate 12 ismounted on the gate post 14- by means of the gate frame 16 at onevertical side thereof while the other vertical side of the gate frame 16has attached thereto a yieldable latch element 18 for cooperation with acatch member 2% mounted on the gate post 15.

In order to hingedly mount the gate on the post 14, a hinge post member22 is provided, said hinge post member 22 being pivotally mounted on thegate post 14 by means of a pivot screw member 24 which has a threadedinner end 25 by means of which it is attached to the gate post 14 asmore clearly seen in FIGURE 6. The hinge post 22 is thereby pivotallymounted at its upper end on the gate post 14 and is spaced therefrom bymeans of spacing washer 28. Fastened to the hinge post 22 between theupper and lower ends thereof are a pair of vertically spaced upper andlower hinge members 30 and 32 to which a pair of axially aligned hingepins 34 and 36 are fixedly attached. Accordingly, a pair of hingemembers 38 and 40 are secured to one side of the gate frame 16 as forexample by being clamped thereto, said hinge members 38 and 40cooperating with the hinge pins 34 and 36 respectively in order tohingedly mount the gate 12 on the hinge post 22.

Attached to the bottom portion of the gate post member 14 is a clampbracket member 42 which has a pair of side portions 44 and 46 forattaching the bracket member 42 to the sides of the post member 14 bymeans of a plurality of threaded screw fasteners 48 as more clearly seenin FIGURE 6. The bracket member 42 also has a connecting portion 50which is spaced from the inner side 52 of the gate post 14 when thebracket member 42 is mounted thereon as more clearly seen in FIGURES 1and 4. Accordingly, it will be apparent that the hinge post member 22will be limited in its pivotal movement by engagement of the lower endof the hinge post member 22 with the side portions 44 and 46 of thebracket member 42 as will also be more clearly seen in FIG- URE 4.

Secured to the connecting portion 50 of the bracket member 42 is a camelement 54 which projects inwardly therefrom towards the gate frame 16of the gate 12, when the bracket member 42 is mounted on the gate postas illustrated in FIGURE 1 for example. Cooperating with the cam element54 are a pair of projection members 56 and 58 which are attached oneither side of the gate frame 16 adjacent the bottom thereof by means offasteners 60, said projecting members 56 and 58 when so mounted on thegate frame extend toward the bracket member 42 and engage the camelement 54 on both sides thereof as more clearly seen in FIGURE 4.

When the gate assembly 10 is in its closed position as illustrated inFIGURES l, 2 and 4 the gate 12 will he held in closed position by meansof the latch member 18 cooperating with the catch 20 on one side of thegate 12 while the cam element 54 by being engaged with the projectingmembers 56 and 58 attached to the other side of the gate 12 willstabilize the gate in its closed position since otherwise the gate 12may be subject to pivotal dis- I 2 U the latch member 18 as well as theresistance to movement of the gate 12 relative to the post 14 offered bythe stationary cam element 54. When an opening force is applied to thegate of sufi'icient magnitude as to overcome the aforementionedresistance to movement, the gate will swing open because of the openingforce applied to the gate. Therefore, since the gate is moved relativeto the gate post 14 by virtue of the pivotal displacement of the hingepost member 2, the stationary cam element 54 will react for example withthe projecting member 58 as shown in FIGURE 5, to thereby cause pivotalmovement of the gate 12 relative to the hinge post member 22 as the postmember itself is being pivotally displaced toward the positionillustrated in FIGURE 3. As seen in FIGURE 3, the gate 12 has beenpivotally moved as a result of the gate opening displacing force appliedthereto reacting against the stationary cam element 54, to its openposition while the hinge post member 22 has been pivotally displaced toits limit position against the side portion 46 of the bracket member 42.It will be observed that in the FIGURE 3 position of the gate assembly,the gate assembly will be in an unstable position so that the force ofgravity will tend to cause clockwise pivotal movement of the hinge postmember 22 and the gate 12 mounted thereon in order to restore the hingepost member 22 to its central position. Accordingly, as the hinge postmember 22 is pivotally moved from its displaced position illustrated inFIGURE 3 toward its central position it will carry the gate 12 therewithso that the projecting member 58 once again coacts with the stationarycam element 54 to cause the gate 12 to pivot relative to the hinge post22 toward its closed position as illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 4. 1

From the foregoing description of the mounting structure and itsoperation, it will be apparent that the gate is rendered self-closing ina more positive manner by means of the stationary cam element located atthe bottom of the gate post and cooperating with extensions on thebottom of the gate frame. It will also be appreciated that the same camelement is effective to stabilize the gate in its closed position aswill be required by virtue of the pivotal mounting of the hinge post onwhich the gate is hingedly mounted. As a result of this arrangement, notonly is a definite predetermined gate opening force required to open thegate assembly which is of use in preventing opening of the gate bytoddlers but also a positive closing action is made possible which is ofequal importance with regard to the same problem since it more reliablyeffects closing of the gate subsequent to the opening thereof byforgetful youngsters and busy adults; It

-will also be appreciated, that all of the above useful objects andpurposesare accomplished by a mounting attachment of unusual simplicityrendering the mounting attachment more widely useful and economicallyfeasible.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. An automatically closing gate'assembly comprising, mounting means forvertically spaced upper and lower gate hanging hinges pivotally mountedat an upper end only on a hinging post for a gate, limit means mountedon said hinging post and confining and engageable with the free lowerend portion of said hinge mounting means to limit its pivotaldisplacement, gate hanging hinges mounted on said hinge mounting meansintermediate the upper and bottom ends of said mounting means, gateframe means having a frame member connected to said hinges, and cammeans fixed to said hinging post and engageable with said gate framemeans to pivot said gate 1 a: frame means in response to pivotaldisplacement of said hinge mounting means and the gate frame means whenurged toward an open position.

2, The assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein said cam means iseffective to pivotally open said gate frame in both directions relativeto said post and thereby operative to stabilize said gate frame means inits closed position.

3. The assembly as defined in claim 2, wherein said cam means is fixedon said limit means.

4. The assembly as defined in claim 3, wherein said hinges pivotallymount said gate frame means on said hinge mounting means in spacedrelation thereto and said cam means projects toward said gate framemeans and is engageable on both sides thereof by spaced parallel fingersfixed to said gate frame means.

5. The assembly as defined in claim 4, including yieldable latch meansfor holding the gate frame means in closed position.

6. The assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein said hinges pivotallymount said gate frame means on said hinge mounting means in spacedrelation and said cam means projects toward said gate frame means and isen gageable on both sides thereof by a pair of spaced paralleloutstanding fingers fixed to a lower swingable horizontal member of saidgate frame means.

7. A self-closing gate assembly comprising, a pair of parallel verticalgate posts, a clamp member fastened to one gate post adjacent a bottomportion of said post, a hinge and gate supporting member pivotallymounted at an upper end on saidtone gate post adjacent a top endthereof, a lower end portion of said hinge and gate sup porting memberextending between sides of said clamp member to limitpivotaldisplacement of the member in both directions, a plurality ofhinges mounted on said member intermediate its top and bottom ends andpivotally mounting a gate frame on said member in spaced relation tosaid member, a stabilizing cam element fixed to said clamp memberandprojecting inwardly toward said gate frame, a pair of projections fixedto said gate frame and engageable with both sides of said cam element,and a yieldable latch mounted on said gate frame engageable with a catchmounted on the other gate post.

8. For use in a fenceconstruction between a fixed vertical gatesupporting and hinging post and a fixed vertical opposed latch posthaving a self-acting latch operatively mounted thereon; an improvementcomprising a gate swingable in a horizontal plane in the space betweensaid posts and having a frame with a vertical frame member opposed tosaid hinging post, an elongated link providing a hinge and gatesupporting arm and interposed between said post and said frame member,means pivotally joining the upper end of said arm to an upper endportion of said hinging post, a U-shaped limit clamp having limbsstraddling and fixed to a lower portion of said hinging post and a bightportion spaced from an adjacent side of said post, the lower end of saidarm being free but confined in the space between said limbs and bightportion and swingable in a limited manner from right to left in respectto said limbs, and upper and lower pairs of hinges connected to the armand frame member respectively.

9. The structure defined in claim 8 and wherein said bight portion isprovided with a fixed cam interposed between the =bight portion and alower portion of the frame member, said frame having a horizontal lowerframe member provided with a pair of fixed coplanar spaced parallelfingers, said fingers having free end portions normally disposed againstopposite sides of said cam and functioning to maintain the frame thereofin alignment with said arm when the gate is closed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS396,558 Godfrey J an. 22, 1889 vii.

